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Estonian Basic-School Estonian as a Second Language Exam study materials
Estonian Basic-School Estonian as a Second Language Exam study resources

Estonian Basic-School Estonian as a Second Language Exam: Reading comprehension

Estonian Basic-School Estonian as a Second Language Exam · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

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Reading comprehension

What the reading section asks

Reading tasks in the exam use short authentic-style Estonian texts: notices, advertisements, timetables, forms, personal emails, short articles and instructions. Questions may ask you to match headings, choose true/false/not stated, complete gaps, order events or find specific details. The aim is B1 reading: you should find explicit information and infer simple meaning from context.

Core reading cues

  • Track case endings to see who does what: Jüri saatis Marile kirja 'Jüri sent a letter to Mari' (-le = to). The same noun in -l would be 'at Mari'.
  • Watch connectors: ja 'and', kuid/aga 'but', sest 'because', seetõttu 'therefore', samas 'at the same time', näiteks 'for example'. They signal contrast, cause and example.
  • Follow pronouns: tema/ta 'he/she', see 'this/it', need 'these/those'. Estonian has no grammatical gender, so ta can mean he or she; the text must tell you.
  • Use word formation: -mine makes an action noun (lugemine 'reading'), -ja makes an agent (lugeja 'reader'), -lik makes an adjective (sõbralik 'friendly'), -us makes a noun (võimalus 'possibility').
  • For 'not stated', check whether the text actually says it; do not use general knowledge.

Worked example

Text: „Esmaspäeviti on raamatukogu avatud kella 10–18, laupäeval ainult kella 14-ni.“ Statement: Raamatukogu on esmaspäeval suletud. The adverb esmaspäeviti means 'on Mondays' (habitual), and avatud means 'open'; Monday opening is 10–18. The statement says 'closed on Monday', so it is false, not 'not stated'. The trap is reading esmaspäeviti as a single Monday or missing that avatud is positive.

Traps that cost marks

  • Marking 'false' when the text simply does not mention the detail; in true/false/not stated tasks, absence is 'not stated'.
  • Confusing similar-looking words: aktuaalne 'current', not 'actual'; rentnik 'tenant', not 'renter' in every context.
  • Ignoring the question word: kes 'who', mis 'what', kus 'where', millal 'when', miks 'why'.
  • Spending too long on one unknown word; use the sentence and paragraph context.